a boy and his monster

I’ve been busy every evening this week with Shadow Art Fair stuff. The other founders of the Fair and I have been doing a lot of press. Earlier in the week, there was a story in the “Ann Arbor News.” Then, on Wednesday, the Ann Arbor NPR affiliate, WUOM, started airing a piece during All This Considered and Morning Edition. Then, today, some of us had the pleasure of sitting in during the taping of Mike Perini’s show on WCBN. And, notice of the Shadow has been showing up in a lot more places that never really cared before, like the “Ann Arbor Observer,” and the website for the Ann Arbor Public Library. For whatever reason, people seem really interested in what we’re doing this year.

My guess is that it has to do with the fact that, for the first time, we’re doing it during the Ann Arbor Art Fair, instead of either right before it or right after it. After writing about, and reporting on the Ann Arbor Art Fair for the last 40-some years, I think people welcomed an opportunity to say something different, and, having our little Shadow Art Fair at the same time, gave them an opportunity to say it in a fresh way… Jennifer Guerra, the NPR correspondent who interviewed us last weekend, asked us to imagine what a fight between our scrappy, young fair, and the older, stodgier one in Ann Arbor, might look like. She ended up not using our responses, though. My friend Jennifer said that we’d jab them in their fanny pack with Josh Sanchez, one of the more sharp and pointy of the Shadow alumni. I babbled something about how, when I was young, I used to run away from fights. I’d run until whoever it was that wanted to kick my ass caught up to me, and, then, really quickly, I’d drop to the ground and roll up into a ball. Most of the time, the other person would then trip over me and go flying. Then, I’d pop up and go running in the opposite direction. (“Stop, Drop, Trip, Run” – it could save your life, kids.)

Jennifer Guerra did, however, include something about me operating a Hold a Trembling Artist booth, which I feel bad about, seeing as how I won’t actually be doing it. No, I decided against it. It wasn’t for lack of trembling artists, either. I just didn’t feel like shelling out the money to get the wood and paint to make the booth. Instead, Linette and I went into last minute hyper-drive and cranked out both a new Ypsi-themed magazine and a limited-edition hand-painted poster. I’ll tell you more about both next week. And, assuming we’ve got extras of either, I’ll make them available through the site.

OK, I need to get back to work now. See you on Saturday at the Shadow.

[Those of you out there with local businesses, if you want, you can drop of coupons at the Brewery at 11:00 AM, and I’ll put them out on a table for our visitors. Those who have done so in the past have experienced good sales as a result, so you might want to give it a shot.]

Oh, and this picture of a boy (left) and his monster (right) isn’t completely unrelated. The monster will be making an appearance at the Fair, and, for a price, he’ll be letting people reach into his orifices for goodies. I’m told he’s got ten openings — only one of which, if you choose it, will cost you a hand.

[And a special shout-out to the Mike’s Books for putting the big Shadow announcement on their giant sign out front. It was really cool to see as I was driving home from Ann Arbor yesterday.]